Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden, Broughty Ferry

News

The Evergreen Nursery at Murroes Farm, nr Kellas is offering Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden a 10% discount when spending over £10 at the Nursery. They will accept a current membership card as proof of membership. (DISCOUNT DOES NOT APPLY TO COMPOST, GIFT VOUCHERS OR DELIVERIES)

1st November 2011
IT’S YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD AWARD 2011. John Grocott and Mary Saunders attended the Beautiful Scotland Annual Seminar & It’s Your Neighbourhood Awards Presentation in Stirling where they were delighted to be presented with an Outstanding Achievement award by George Anderson – a Beautiful Scotland judge and presenter on BBC’s Beechgrove Garden.

Wednesday 28th September 2011
The Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden held their fourteenth Annual General Meeting this evening at the Age Concern Hall in Broughty Ferry with a record attendance of members. Chairman, Mary Saunders reported on the Friend’s activities during the past year and the awards gained by the Friends and the Garden including a fifth Green Flag –an Outstanding Achievement Award from Beautiful Scotland’s It’s Your Neighbourhood Scheme and for the first time a Green Tourism Award at Silver Level. She said “Although sadly we have again lost a few of our Friends to various ills it has been a good year for the Garden and the Friends despite the weather and financial cuts and we look forward to another twelve months working with the Gardener, Michael Laird and the Council to maintain the very high standards that have now been set.
Mary Saunders was re- elected as Chairman, John Grocott, Vice Chairman; Heather Dailly, Treasurer; Kate Grocott, Membership Secretary and Anne Hesketh was elected as Secretary. Jim Millan, Tom Neilson, Ann Smith, Ann Taylor and Isobel Turner were all re-elected as Committee Members. Barry Crawshaw had resigned from the Committee but would be continuing his work as part of the Garden Team.
The resident Gardener, Michael Laird gave a rousing report on the past year following which Daphne Barbieri presented a film of the Friends’ activities during the past twelve months. A presentation was made to Jim Millan thanking him for his work as Secretary for the past six years. Jim played a major part in obtaining the Geddes Glasshouse for the Garden and the Lottery funding to provide information boards for it. Frank Clish gave a vote of thanks.

25th July 2011: Michael Laird and representatives of the Friends were presented with the Rock Garden's fifth Green Flag at Templeton Woods this morning. Trottick Ponds, Baxter Park and, for the first time, Templeton Woods have also gained Green Flags for 2011-2012. The new Environment Director and Asst. Convener were present for the event which was filmed by STV.

Green Tourism Business Award

The Barnhill Rock Garden has been awarded a Green Tourism Business Award at Silver Level and presentation of the Award was made at the Garden on Monday 6th June.
The Garden had been awaiting grading for 12 months during which time various actions were taken to meet the criteria for this award. The GTBS is the national sustainable tourism certification scheme for the UK. Originally developed in partnership with Visit Scotland, it has been running since 1997 and it is now the only certification scheme validated by Visit Britain, through the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT).
Green Tourism is assessed by a qualified grading advisor against a rigorous set of criteria, covering a range of areas, such as energy and water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity and more. The current network of members is comprised of a wide range of business types, including accommodation providers, visitor attractions, corporate offices and others.
More information is available on the GTBS website at www.green-business.co.uk

Saturday, 23rd April 2011. Around 34 Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden assisted by 15 Cubs and Scouts from the 1st Monifieth Group with their leaders spent a very productive morning at the Barnhill Rock Garden. While the Friends were busy weeding, planting and laying gravel the Cubs and Scouts carried out a litter pick from one end of the garden to the other using Broughty Ferry in Bloom's new litter-picking equipment purchased with money awarded to the group through the Scottish Bathing Water Litter Grant Scheme. Also joining in were a family who came to plant alpines in the new Scree Bed in memory of their mother Jean Bell who died last year.

West Lynn Garden, New Lynn, Auckland, New Zealand.
Following a visit to Broughty Ferry and the Barnhill Rock Garden by a member of the West Lynn Garden Society Inc. who own and run the above garden, we have now become members of each other’s groups which means that any Friend of the Barnhill Rock Garden visiting Auckland may visit West Lynn Garden and its Butterfly House at 73 Parker Avenue and will not be charged an entry fee! Copies of their newsletters and further information will be available at the Geddes Glasshouse or you can visit their website: www.westlynngarden.org.nz. Click on the images of the West Lynn Spring Newsletter for full screen.

CHANGE TO WINTER PROGRAMME Dr Brian Williamson’s talk “My life as a plant doctor” will now take place on Wednesday, 23rd February while Mr John Alexander’s talk “My trip of a lifetime to South Georgia” will take place on Wednesday, 23rd March. Both talks take place in the Age Concern Hall, Brook Street, Broughty Ferry, starting at 7.30 pm.

Saturday, 2nd October 2010
The Friends were able to enjoy a lovely sunny morning for their Autumn tidy-up. This year they were assisted with some pupils from the Eastern Primary School's Garden Club and friends who carried out some bulb-planting.

Wednesday, 29th September 2010
At the RHS Britain in Bloom awards ceremony held in the Centennial Centre in Birmingham on 29th September a National Certificate of Distinction in the Britain in Bloom “It’s your neighbourhood” scheme which was presented to the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Friends at the Britain in Bloom by Alys Fowler. The Friends were nominated for this award by Beautiful Scotland and were one of only a few groups in Britain who received the award and the only one in Scotland.

Wednesday 8th September 2010
The Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden held their thirteenth Annual General Meeting this evening at the New Kirk, Semple Hall in Broughty Ferry. Chairman, Mary Saunders reported on the Friend’s activities during the past year and the various awards gained for the Friends and Garden including a fourth Green Flag and a second Outstanding Achievement Award under Beautiful Scotland’s Neighbourhood Awards Scheme. She also announced that the Friends had just been advised that they had been nominated for the It’s Your Neighbourhood NATIONAL Certificate of Distinction by the Royal Horticultural Society’s RHS Britain in Bloom and invited to send two representatives to attend the UK Finalists Awards Ceremony in Birmingham on 29th September.

Mary Saunders was re- elected as Chairman, John Grocott, Vice Chairman. Heather Dailly, Treasurer; Jim Millan, Secretary; Kate Grocott, Membership Secretary and Anne Hesketh as Minute Secretary. Tom Neilson, Ann Smith and Isobel Turner were all re-elected as Committee Members. Two new members – Ann Taylor and Barry Crawshaw - who are also part of the Garden Team were elected to the Committee. The resident Gardener, Michael Laird gave a rousing report on the past year following which he and his fiancée, Norma Angus, were presented with a wedding gift from the Friends. Daphne Barbieri presented a film of the Friends’ activities during the past twelve months following which she was awarded Life Membership of the Friends for her work on their behalf.

A vote of thanks was given by George Grant.

Sunday, 15th August:
Visitors to the Rock Garden today were able to enjoy a concert by the Tayport Instrumental Band in glorious sunshine

Wednesday, 28th July:
Friends of the Garden and Michael Laird, were delighted to receive the fourth Green Flag earned by the Barnhill Rock Garden for 2010-2011. This year they were joined by representatives from Trottick Ponds and Baxter Park for the presentation.

Sunday, 25th July:
The City of Discovery Band entertained Friends and members of the public at the Rock Garden with a varied programme finishing with a selection of Scottish songs.

Saturday, 3rd July 2010
Members of the West of Scotland Horticultural Society visited the Rock Garden as part of a tour they were undertaking of gardens of the East of Scoitland with Brightwater Holidays. Michael Laird and two members of the Friends met the visitors and after a short talk about the history of the Garden the Friends took them on conducted tours around the Rock Garden

Wednesday, 9th June 2010
Monifieth Ladies Group enjoyed a visit to the garden which included tours conducted by John Grocott and Jim Millan followed by refreshments in the Geddes Glasshouse supplied by the Friends.

Tuesday, 8th June, 2010
Pupils from Primary 1 classes of Strathmore Primary School in Forfar visited the Rock Garden as part of their day's outing to Broughty Ferry. At the Garden with the help of the Countryside Rangers, Friends of the Garden and Michael Laird, the Gardener, they were able to enjoy a number of activities, including a "Beastie Search" and learning how to plant seeds, despite the poor weather. (No photos of this event)

Sunday, 16th May 2010
The garden received a visit from some members of the Angus Branch of the Scottish Rock Garden.   They were shown around by members of the Friends' Garden Team and Michael Laird, the resident Gardener following which refreshments were on offer in the Geddes Glasshouse.  The Angus Group presented the Friends with some very welcome and special plants for use in the Garden

Saturday 3rd April 2010
Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden raised £781.00, after expenses, at their Coffee Morning in Broughty Ferry on Saturday, April 3, thanks to great support from their members and other local residents. This sum will help with the purchase of alpine plants for their re-built Scree Bed which Friends have been working on all winter.

Saturday 24th April 2010
Saturday, 24th April saw the Friends carrying out their annual Spring Clean-up assisted by Cub Scouts from Monifieth. The rain held off and in fact the sun was shining by the time we left the Garden. As in previous years we were taking part in the Beautiful Scotland National Spring Clean Week and were joined by 25 Friends, 10 Cub Scouts and two of their leaders. With the Cub Scouts taking care of the "litter pick" the Friends were able to concentrate on weeding and starting work on planting up the newly renovated west end of the Scree Bed."

Saturday, 31st October 2009
Cub Scouts from the 1st Monifieth Scout Group were at the Barnhill Rock Garden on Saturday with their leaders, Lisa and David Tennant where with some of the Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden they were able to take part in "pond dipping", tree recognition and bark rubbing to help them gain their Naturalist badges.  They ended their visit with a walk through the neighbouring Nature Reserve and a visit to the sand-martin nesting site.

 

Wednesday, 28 th October 2009.
John Grocott and Jim Millan, representing the Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden, attended the Beautiful Scotland Annual Seminar in Motherwell where they were presented with a Certificate of Outstanding Achievement under the Beautiful Scotland Neighbourhood Awards Scheme for the first part of the Friends’ Scree Bed renovation project. The judge awarded the Friends 94 points out of a possible 100 and congratulated them for maintaining such a high standard.

Wednesday, 14th October 2009
Owing to a throat infection,  Alan Graham  has had to postpone his talk to the Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden due to take place next Wednesday, 14th October.  However, one of our own members Daphne Barbieri, has agreed to fill the breach and will be showing her "Secret Gardens of Broughty Ferry" films instead.  The meeting will take place in the Age Concern Hall, Brook Street, Broughty Ferry at 7.30 pm, and visitors are welcome.  Entrance is free and refreshments will be available.

Saturday, 3 rd October 2009
Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden braved the gale-force winds on Saturday to carry out their Autumn Clean-up operation and enjoyed the soup, sandwiches and cake provided by other Friends at lunch-time. At least 30 members turned up for the event and were able to tidy up the areas for which the Friends are responsible. Photos shows some of the Friends of the Garden

Wednesday 9th September 2009
The Friends of the Barnhill Rock Garden held their twelfth Annual General Meeting at the Age Concern Hall in Broughty Ferry. In her first report as Chairman, Mary Saunders said that it had been a very good year for the Rock Garden and hoped the Friends and Council working together would be able to keep up the momentum.

Mary Saunders was re-elected as Chairman and John Grocott as Vice Chairman. Heather Dailly continues as Treasurer, Jim Millan as Secretary; Kate Grocott as Membership Secretary and Anne Hesketh as Minute Secretary. Tom Neilson, Ann Smith and Isobel Turner were all re-elected as Committee Members. Sheila and Ronald Harden resigned due to other commitments and were thanked for their support over the previous twelve years.

The resident Gardener, Michael Laird gave his report on the past year and Daphne Barbieri presented a film of the Friends’ activities during the past twelve months.

A vote of thanks was given by Ann Smith.

Click on photographs for larger image

The Friends’ Garden Team and Michael Laird, the Resident Gardener hoisted their new Green Flag for 2009-2010 on Monday, 10th August.



The last of the children’s events in the Garden took place on Thursday, 13th August with story-reading by one of our local librarians.

The Tayport Instrumental Band were at the Rock Garden on Sunday, August 16 and entertained an audience of over 90 people.  Although it was windy the morning rain cleared away allowing the Concert to take place in patchy sunshine